Children are the most significant resource of parents. Everyone must pass their childhood to become an elder. Everybody has an experience of childhood whether it was happy or not. The world of children is wonderful, they have no colours, no race, no religion and no caste. Children are a basic part of human society, so people celebrate a special day for children every year. Sri Lanka celebrates World Children’s Day on the 1st of October every year. But many countries celebrate Universal Children’s Day on the 20th of November. On this special day, children, parents and society refresh an idea of how important it is to take care of children, their protection, and regulations. The goal of Universal Children’s Day is to raise the welfare of children worldwide and promote togetherness and awareness among all children. Today children face multiple obstacles and challenges due to many reasons in society. Education is the main problem. It is a basic right of every child, but around the world, there are around 300 million children and youth who do not go to school. They don’t have uniforms, proper transportation, books, bags, other equipment etc.... also they don’t have an opportunity to study what they desire. Most children with disabilities face many barriers, ignorance, stigma, lack of infrastructure and trained teachers. When it comes to Sri Lanka, this problem is also the same. The other key issue is child labour. Worldwide too many children also have no opportunity to live as a child. According to UNICEF data, around 168 million children are engaged in child labour. Poverty is the main reason for that. Children do household work or work in factories and cleaning services as a labour to fulfil their family needs in Sri Lanka, this problem was controlled by the government for many years. On the other side, the sexual abuse of children has been increasing over the decades. Many children are abused by those who are close to them. According to the reports, 41% of sexual abuse is the highest occurring crime against children in 2022 in Sri Lanka. Considering this, we can see the responsibility of parents, their protection and love are needed for children. Parents play a key role in children’s lives, ensuring their education, nutrition, protection, and healthy life. But most parents don’t allocate their time to children as they have busy schedules. Some parents spend time on social media activities without considering their children’s loneliness and education. So parents and every elder have a huge responsibility for bringing children to the society in a productive manner.  Not only that school system, universities, religious parties, and the government should focus on children’s needs, children’s rights, and their future development. Society should protect our children as they are our future!

Amani Rupasingha

Editor